Backpacking Background: I hike to get away from the stress of living
and working in NYC. Most of my hikes are day trips using public
transportation (subway, bus and train), but I do manage to work in as
many multi-day outings as I can. I prefer to pack fairly light
and look for difficult terrain or high mileage hikes.

This is a small and light weight stove with a built in auto ignition
system. It uses screw on type butane/propane cartridges.
The stove arrives in a tiny but nice box and includes instructions in
multiple languages and a hard plastic case. The plastic case measures
3.5 x 1.5 x 2 inches (89 x 38 x 51 mm).
The stove is very minimal in design and operation. It has four arms
that fold out to support cookware. Unfolded the arms create a platform
that measures 4.25 inches diagonally (108 mm diagonally). The flame is
controlled with an adjustable valve that has an easily foldable spring
loaded handle. The unit is lit using the built in auto igniter that is
activated with the push of a small grey button.

On
the Bench

Before using it in the field, I decided to test it out in the comforts
of home. The stove screwed on very easily to the top of the fuel
canister, and minimal force was needed to form a gas tight seal. The
gas valve was easy to operate (very light force was needed to open and
close the valve), and provided a wide range of flame output. The fuel
valve handle was easy to grip and stayed cool during operation. The
support arms folded out to create a large support area and seemed to
provide a decent grip on my cooking pot. The auto ignite system ignited
the stove on the first try ten times out of ten.

To get an idea of power output and fuel consumption of the Giga Stove,
I decided to run a couple of test. I put one cup (8 fluid ounces) into
a Snow Peak Trek 700 Ti cooking pot and timed the duration it took to
bring the water to a very fast boil. A butane/propane/isobutane
canister was used to fuel the stove. The canister was weighed before
and after every test to determine the weight of the fuel used to bring
the water to a boil.

Test one was with the valve of the stove opened up to the point
where the visible flame could be seen to extend to the edge and
slightly past the sides of the pot. This is normally a larger
flame than I would use in the field. It took 2 minutes and 48 seconds
to come to boil using 4.2 grams (.15 oz) of fuel.

In test two, I used a smaller flame that extended halfway from the
center to the edge of the pot (about 1 inch / 25.4 mm from the
edge). This flame output is very similar to what I use when I am using
the stove in the field. The water was brought to a rapid boil in 3
minutes and 48 seconds and used 3.6 grams (.13 oz) of fuel.

The third test was a repeat of the second. I tried to maintain a
similar flame size to what I use in the field. The boil time was 3
minutes and 56 seconds and the amount of fuel was 3.5 grams (.12 oz).

Field
information

I had two basic criteria that needed to be met when I decided to buy a
new stove. The first was light weight but durable, and the second was
ease of use. The Giga Stove seemed like it hit the mark in both of
these categories. I was able to find it for sale in a package that
included the Snow Peak Trek 700 Ti cooking pot and the Snow Peak
titanium spork, which looked like it would be a great way to get up and
running with with very light cooking kit for solo camping.

Shortly after receiving the stove I went on a camping trip in Northern
California. I spent three days in Salt Point State Park, and then spent
three days in Yosemite. While in the pack, the Giga Stove would live in
the supplied plastic case which provided plenty of protection. The
stove was in daily use for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On this trip I
used a combination of dehydrated (just add water) and foods that needed
a simmer.

For the dehydrated foods (morning coffee, dehydrated bacon and eggs,
dehydrated sweet and sour chicken, etc...) the stove was a joy to use.
It was very easy to light and brought the water to a boil quickly. It
was very stable and I never had an issue with the arms of the stove
gripping the pot. It also seemed to cool very quickly which made a big
difference when I wanted to minimize the duration of my lunch breaks.

For the meals that required the water to be simmered (noodles), the
stove worked well. During simmering, the fuel valve was slightly
difficult to fine tune. It seemed like the spring on the lever for the
fuel valve would slightly compress when the fine adjustments were made.
Although it was a little annoying, it did not make a major impact in
the positive impression I have of this stove.

The one negative that I encountered was that without any type of wind
screen, the stove was a little difficult to use in high wind
situations. Even when the stove was set to simmer, the flame was never
blown out, but in windy situations, my pot would have to be
repositioned so that the wind swept flame would be focused on the
center of the pot. Moving the pot in this way seemed to cause a bit of
instability and a higher risk of having the stove tip over. This
situation was easily overcome by scouting a cooking site that provided
shelter from the wind. If I were hiking in a location that was windy
and did not have shelter, i would definitely invest in a wind screen.

Summary

The Snow Peak GST-100A is a great light weight and easy to use
backpacking stove. The size of the folded stove made it hard not to
bring it along, and ease of use made it a joy to cook with.

Pros
1 Light weight
2 Very small
3 Easy to light and use
4 Built to last

Product tested and reviewed in each Formal Test Report has been provided free of charge by the manufacturer to BackpackGearTest.org. Upon completion of the Test Series the writer is permitted to keep the product. Owner Reviews are based on product owned by the reviewer personally unless otherwise noted.